Characterization of surface-confined ionic liquid stationary phases: impact of cation and anion identity on retention

Ionic liquid-loaded triazine-based magnetic nanoparticles for promoting multicomponent reaction

A novel hybrid magnetic ionic-liquid as a heterogeneous catalyst was synthesized by hybridization of imidazolium based-ionic liquid onto the nitrogen rich magnetic nanocomposite. The resulting catalyst (n-Fe3O4@SiO2-TA-SO3H IL) has two advantages besides recyclability: (i) high capacity of functional-SO3H group with imidazolium-IL cation for promoting symmetric and asymmetric Hantzsch reaction and (ii) easy recovery. Caused by the polymeric and magnetic nature of the n-Fe3O4@SiO2-TA-SO3H IL, large quantities of acidic groups were bound to the n-Fe3O4@SiO2-TA surface, which reduced the catalyst mass applied to the catalytic reaction. Moreover, superior catalytic performance and outstanding recyclability of n-Fe3O4@SiO2-TA-SO3H IL in mild condition make this method a green pathway for manufacture of satisfactory chemicals.

Solute–Solvent Interactions in Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography: Characterization of the Retention in a Silica Column by the Abraham Linear Free Energy Relationship Model

The Abraham linear free energy relationship model has been used to characterize a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) silica column with acetonitrile/water and methanol/water mobile phases. Analysis by the model for acetonitrile/water mobile phases points to solute volume and hydrogen bond basicity as the main properties affecting retention, whereas solute hydrogen bond acidity, dipolarity and polarizability practically do not affect it. Formation of a cavity is easier in acetonitrile-rich mobile phases than in the aqueous stationary phase, and hence increase of solute volume decreases retention. Conversely, hydrogen bond acidity is stronger in the aqueous stationary phase than in the acetonitrile-rich mobile phase and thus an increase of solute hydrogen bond basicity increases retention. Results are similar for methanol/water mobile phases with the difference that solute hydrogen bond acidity is significant too. Increase in hydrogen bond acidity of the solute decreases retention showing that methanol mobile phases must be better hydrogen bond acceptors than acetonitrile ones, and even than water-rich stationary phases. The results are like the ones obtained in zwitterionic HILIC columns bonded to silica or polymer supports for acetonitrile/water mobile phases, but different for solute hydrogen bond acidity for a polymer bonded zwitterionic column with methanol/water mobile phases, indicating that bonding support plays an important role in HILIC retention. Comparison to RPLC characterized systems confirms the complementarity of HILIC systems to RPLC ones because the main properties affecting retention are the same but with reversed coefficients. The least retained solutes in RPLC are the most retained in HILIC.

Recent development of ionic liquid stationary phases for liquid chromatography

Based on their particular physicochemical characteristics, ionic liquids have been widely applied in many fields of analytical chemistry. Many types of ionic liquids were immobilized on a support like silica or monolith as stationary phases for liquid chromatography. Moreover, different approaches were developed to bond covalently ionic liquids onto the supporting materials. The obtained ionic liquid stationary phases show multi-mode mechanism including hydrophobic, hydrophilic, hydrogen bond, anion exchange, π-π, and dipole-dipole interactions. Therefore, they could be used in different chromatographic modes including ion-exchange, RPLC, NPLC and HILIC to separate various classes of compounds. This review mainly summarizes the immobilized patterns and types of ionic liquid stationary phases, their retention mechanisms and applications in the recent five years.

On the use of ionic liquids as mobile phase additives in high-performance liquid chromatography. A review

The popularity of ionic liquids (ILs) has grown during the last decades in several analytical separation techniques. Consequently, the number of reports devoted to the applications of ILs is still increasing. This review is focused on the use of ILs (mainly imidazolium-based associated to chloride and tetrafluoroborate) as mobile phase additives in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In this approach, ILs just function as salts, but keep several kinds of intermolecular interactions, which are useful for chromatographic separations. Both cation and anion can be adsorbed on the stationary phase, creating a bilayer. This gives rise to hydrophobic, electrostatic and other specific interactions with the stationary phase and solutes, which modify the retention behaviour and peak shape. This review updates the advances in this field, with emphasis on topics not always deeply considered in the literature, such as the mechanisms of retention, the estimation of the suppressing potency of silanols, modelling and optimisation of the chromatographic performance, and the comparison with other additives traditionally used to avoid the silanol problem.

Ionic liquid-based zwitterionic organic polymer monolithic column for capillary hydrophilic interaction chromatography

A novel ionic liquid-based zwitterionic organic polymer monolithic column was developed, by copolymerization in a quaternary porogenic solvent, for capillary hydrophilic interaction chromatography.

Improvement of the chromatographic separation performance of an imidazolium ionic liquid functionalized silica column by in situ anion-exchange with dodecyl sulfonate and dodecylbenzene sulfonate anions

The anionic part of ionic liquids can provide additional interactions during chromatographic separations. In this work, the chromatographic separation performance of a silica column functionalized with 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid was improved by in situ anion-exchange from chloride anions to dodecyl sulfonate anions and dodecylbenzene sulfonate anions. The separation performances of these ionic liquid functionalized phases were investigated and compared with each other using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalates, parabens, and phenols as model compounds. Results indicated that the new columns presented a better chromatographic separation than the original one. This was ascribed retention mechanism from organic anions. The introduction of dodecyl sulfonate anions increased the hydrophobicity of stationary phase. Furthermore, the phenyl groups of dodecylbenzene sulfonate anions could provide an enhanced selectivity to aromatic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by π-π interactions. Analysis repeatability of the new columns was satisfactory (RSD of retention time, 0.10-0.40%; RSD of peak area, 0.66-0.84%).

Application of ionic liquids in liquid chromatography and electrodriven separation

Ionic liquids (ILs) are salts in the liquid state at ambient temperature, which are nonvolatile, nonflammable with high thermal stability and dissolve easily for a wide range of inorganic and organic materials. As a kind of potential green solvent, they show high efficiency and selectivity in the field of separation research, especially in instrumental analysis. Thus far, ILs have been successfully applied by many related researchers in high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis as chromatographic stationary phases, mobile phase additives or electroosmotic flow modifiers. This paper provides a detailed review of these applications in the study of natural products, foods, drugs and other fine chemicals. Furthermore, the prospects of ILs in liquid chromatographic and electrodriven techniques are discussed.

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids grafted on solid surfaces

Supported ionic liquids (SILs), which refer to ionic liquids (ILs) immobilized on supports, are among the most important derivatives of ILs.

Comparison and evaluation of five types of imidazole-modified silica adsorbents for the removal of 2,4-dinitrophenol from water samples with the methyl group at different positions of imidazolium ring

The objective of this work was to improve the understanding the influence of the methyl group at different positions of imidazolium ring on the adsorption behaviors of imidazole-modified silica adsorbents. Five adsorbents named as SilprImCl, SilprM₁ImCl, SilprM₂ImCl, SilprM₄ImCl and SilprM₁M₂ImCl were synthesized using imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 2-methylimidazole, 4-methylimidazole and 1,2-dimethylimidazole, respectively. These adsorbents were characterized by scanning electron microscope, infrared spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, elemental analysis and BET analysis. Firstly, phenol, 2-nitrophenol (2-NP), 3-nitrophenol (3-NP), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP) were used as adsorbates to investigate the selectivity of SilprImCl and its adsorption capacities followed the order of 2,4-DNP≫4-NP>2-NP≫3-NP>phenol. Therefore, 2,4-DNP was used to investigate the adsorption behaviors of the five adsorbents. It was inferred that the adsorbents are of primary anion-exchange and electrostatic nature. The electrostatic nature was affected significantly by the methyl group at different positions of imidazolium ring. The adsorbed amounts of 2,4-DNP decreased in the order of: SilprM₁M₂ImCl≈SilprM₁ImCl>SilprM4ImCl>SilprM₂ImCl>SilprImCl. The adsorption-elution experiments indicated that 2,4-DNP can be removed from aqueous solutions by a SilprM₄ImCl packed column and the recovery of 91.6% was obtained. The adsorbent could be regenerated and reused ten times at least by simple washings with HCl and water in turn.

Ionic liquid applications in peptide chemistry: synthesis, purification and analytical characterization processes

This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent advances made in the field of ionic liquids in peptide chemistry and peptide analytics.

Ionic liquid-modified materials for solid-phase extraction and separation: a review

In recent years, materials science has propelled to the research forefront. Ionic liquids with unique and fascinating properties have also left their footprints to the developments of materials science during the last years. In this review we highlight some of their recent advances and provide an overview at the current status of ionic liquid-modified materials applied in solid-phase extraction, liquid and gas chromatography and capillary electrochromatography with reference to recent applications. In addition, the potential of ionic liquids in the modification of capillary inner wall in capillary electrophoresis is demonstrated. The main target material modified with ionic liquids is silica, but polymers and monoliths have recently joined the studies. Although imidazolium is still clearly the most commonly used ionic liquid for the covalently modification of materials, the exploitation of pyridinium and phosphonium will most probably increase in the future.

Separation of peptides by HPLC using a surface-confined ionic liquid stationary phase

A butylimidazolium bromide surface-confined ionic liquid stationary phase was synthesized in-house. The synthesized phase was investigated for the separation of five peptides (Gly-Tyr, Val-Tyr-Val, leucine enkephalin, methionine enkephalin, and angiotensin-II). The peptides were successfully separated in less than 5 min. The effect of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) on the separation of peptides was evaluated with results confirming that TFA was not acting as ion-pairing agent in separation of peptides on this phase.